Looking After You
by Treppenwitz
Summary: An evening out for Patsy and Delia takes a sudden and unexpected turn.
1. Chapter 1

Nightfall had brought with it an end to the noise and commotion of the day, and in its place was an atmosphere of tranquillity. Poplar was at peace. The roads and streets were devoid of any motorcars or people, and the gentle lapping of the Thames on the riverbank was a soothing sound to hear. Rainwater that had fallen earlier that day had collected in the cracks in the cobblestones, and orange light from the street lamps glinted in the murky pools. Up above, the dark clouds were slowly parting, giving way to the stars, but still obscuring the moon.

The stillness of the night was broken by the sound of laughter echoing down the road. It was a sweet and light-hearted sound, and anybody listening would have been momentarily entranced by it.

"Delia!"

Another female voice, rich and clipped, called out after the owner of the laugh.

"Oh do come on, Pats! You have to keep up!"

The reply was an unmistakable Welsh accent, the words lilting and musical. Two young women burst out from a dark back alley onto the terrace. The shorter, Welshwoman, with dark hair, had the taller, redheaded woman by the hand.

"See, that wasn't so bad, Patsy, was it now?"

Patsy leant back against the bricks to catch her breath.

"I'm not so sure I trust your shortcuts, Deels!" she chuckled between pants, "I think I prefer the usual way,"

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?"

Patsy straightened up to look about the deserted street.

"It's a jolly good thing nobody's about!" she remarked, but Delia wasn't paying any attention.

Already she had begun to make her way up the cobbled street back towards Nonnatus House. Patsy was still for a moment, admiring the way Delia looked from behind in her white and blue dress; the way it swayed with her hips as she walked, and the way it glowed slightly in the dim light. She was beautiful.

"Come on you," Delia smiled, turning and extending her hand for Patsy.

They joined hands again and began to stroll up the road. Delia's heels made a rhythmic clicking sound on the stones, and their steps fell into time with one another.

Just as they reached the end of the terrace and turned left onto the main street towards Nonnatus House, there was a scrabbling in the alley across the road.

Immediately, Patsy felt Delia's grip on her hand tighten significantly. They both stopped, their breaths coming short and fast.

"Nurse?"

Delia flinched and released Patsy's hand, putting a good metre between them, her terror of being caught holding Patsy's hand suddenly outweighing her fear of whoever was calling for them.

"Nurse?" the voice came again.

"Who's there?" Patsy replied, her own voice wavering a little.

From a narrow alley opposite them, a young woman with a pale, frightened expression emerged. It was just visible in the streetlight that she was wearing a flowery dress, but that her knees and hands were grubby, and her makeup was smudged. Even from where they were standing, Patsy could see that her eyes were red from crying.

"Is everything alright?" Patsy asked, the relief in her voice audible.

"Yes, I mean, I am… but it's my friend… she," the woman broke off looking back down into the alley.

Delia stepped a little closer to the other woman. "Do you need a nurse?"

The woman nodded, "I recognised you from Nonnatus. My friend needs help. She got hurt and I thought that she wasn't too bad but… she ain't alright,"

Patsy nodded, understanding straight away.

"Lead the way, Miss…?"

"I'm just Karen, and my friend's Ruth. She's in a bad way. She doesn't even look at me when I say her name,"

Already Patsy and Delia were clearly concerned. They followed Karen down into the alley. Here, the cobbles were covered in algae, and were treacherous underfoot. Discarded bits of metal and wood lay about on the ground, and it smelt damp and unpleasant. About three quarters of the way down the alley, the buildings overhead were joined together so that the passage was covered. The cobbles were drier and cleaner, and the light from the entrance at the other end provided enough visibility to see who they had come for.

A young woman, with auburn hair strewn over her face, was slumped against the alley wall, several metres away from the road above. Grazes and bruises ran all down her arm, and her head hung limply forward. Both nurses hurried towards her.

Delia knelt on the ground in front of her and delicately brushed the hair out of her face. The woman was pretty, but there was a nasty cut above her right eye and another purple bruise on her cheekbone.

"Ruth!" Karen sobbed.

Patsy placed two fingers on Ruth's wrist.

"It's fast," she noted, "and her breathing is laboured,"

"Ruth?" Delia called softly, "Can you hear me?"

The girl stirred and mumbled something incoherent. Karen gave another wail and turned away, her head in her hands.

"Karen, I need to know exactly what happened to Ruth," Patsy said, standing up and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Delia looked up and watched Patsy try to comfort Karen. The redheaded nurse wrapped her arm around her and held her to her until the most violent sobs had subsided. Her shoulders jolted with each heave, but she began to recover with Patsy's comforting embrace helping her to relax.

"Just tell us when you are ready,"

"There were these men, about five of them, and… Ruth and I were coming out of this place, and they set on me and she tried to push one of them off me and then… he just hit her,"

"Where did he hit her?"

"I could barely see anything; it was so fast! But, I think he hit her here," she pointed at her side, "And then she fell to the floor and…"

"And?"

"And then they left," she said simply.

As the words left her mouth, Delia's heart went out to Karen. She looked so broken and empty, standing in the darkness and shivering in the cool night air. Her hair had fallen loose in places, and there were streaks in the dirt on her face from where she had been crying.

"Karen?" Patsy said gently, "Why didn't you call for the police, or an ambulance? If you could see that she was injured, you could have at least notified the owner of the establishment that you left,"

The young woman visibly paled and she began stammering as she tried to find an answer.

"Well, see, she wasn't t so bad at first… a bit confused… but she could walk, and she didn't want fuss or to give anyone any trouble, see? It was only when we were walking that she began to stagger, and then she was sick, so we sat here and… and…"

Carefully, Delia stood up and took Karen's hand, cupping it reassuringly.

"Karen, we're not here to pass any judgement. You don't have to fear us. We just want to know why this has happened so that we can help,"

There must have been something in the softness of Delia's accent, or her honest blue eyes, because Karen's resistance began to melt away.

"I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. You wouldn't stay here a minute longer if you knew,"

Delia gave her a small smile and shook her head.

"I promise you, we won't leave this spot, not even if you told us that you had just stolen the crown jewels,"

This made even Karen give a little laugh.

"You promise?"

"Yes," Patsy confirmed, meeting Delia's eyes and giving her a look of determination, "We promise,"

Karen took a deep breath, her fingers knotting together anxiously.

"It's because…"


	2. Chapter 2

Karen withdrew her hand from Delia's and stepped away from both nurses, as if afraid to have them close to her for what she was about to say. A small breeze entered the alley, ruffling her hair and sending ripples through the fabric of her dress.

"The place that we came out of… it's a club for queers,"

There was an audible gasp as Delia's hand flew to her mouth; she was unable to contain the horror of her realisation. Patsy turned her head to try to disguise her misery, and she felt a cold numbness rush into her chest. Part of her wanted to make Karen stop speaking; she felt as though she could not bear the injustice of the rest of her story.

"The men saw us leave and they saw me with Ruth, and they started yelling names at us. Ruth shouted at them to stop and that was when he hit her. The moment she hit the ground, they ran off, laughing and jeering, like we were freaks or animals or something," she stopped, eyeing the nurses determinedly, daring them to contradict her, "We're not,"

A stony silence descended. Nobody knew what to say, or how to proceed. Karen stepped backwards, placing more space between her and the other women, before resting her head on the wall and closing her eyes.

"Karen…" Delia began, but she was interrupted.

Karen did not move or open her eyes, but began to speak again. She sounded more detached and her voice suddenly seemed void of emotion, as if her grief was so great that she could no longer acknowledge it.

"I was supposed to protect her. I swore that, no matter what happened, I would stay by her and…," she paused, her hands clenched by her sides, "I've failed her,"

"No,"

Patsy's sudden protest caused her to reopen her eyes, and Karen stared over at her in shock.

"No, you haven't failed her," Patsy repeated, "And you haven't lost her either. We will do everything we can to look after you and her,"

Karen's lip, and she looked from Patsy to Delia in disbelief.

"You will?"

"Absolutely. Now, let's take another look and see what can be done,"

Patsy became immediately business-like, her usual, resourceful attitude coming back to her. She shrugged off her cardigan and handed it to Karen, who was shuddering from the cold. She then knelt down beside Ruth and lifted her face to try to rouse her. The girl groaned again, before pitching over to her right, and throwing up onto the ground beside her.

"How much did Ruth have to drink before the injury?" Delia asked.

"Not a lot. Not enough to make her sick at any rate,"

Patsy looked up, "I'm certain that it's concussion, Deels, probably a result from her fall to the ground. It would explain her drowsiness, vomiting, and the confusion that Karen described after the injury had happened,"

"What's concussion?" Karen demanded.

"It's a minor brain injury," Delia explained, "It's not serious, but Ruth does need to see a doctor,"

"You mean you can't treat her?"

"She might need medicine or surgery, and we can't give that to her here. If she has a swelling or a bleed on the brain, she will need to go to a specialist,"

Patsy reached into her handbag, which she had dropped onto the ground beside her, and pulled out a coin which she passed to Delia.

"Call for an ambulance, Deels. Tell them it's a suspected concussion, and, by the looks of it, a possible fractured wrist,"

Delia nodded and hurried up and onto the road above and headed off to the nearest telephone box. Patsy tried to help Ruth into a more comfortable position.

"Karen, do you think you would be able to try to keep Ruth talking, or at least awake? I want her to remain conscious so that I can tell if she starts getting any worse. I've got some antiseptic cream here, so I'm going to put a little on this graze on her arm,"

It did not take Patsy long to find the cream. She always kept a tube in her handbag. Years of following strict nursing procedure had left its mark, and she rarely went anywhere without at least a basic first aid kit on her person. She carefully squeezed a small amount onto her fingertips and began to rub it across the wounds, ensuring that she removed any pieces of gravel or clumps of dirt first. Ruth winced a little at the sensation, but soon settled down and allowed for the antiseptic to be applied.

As Patsy meticulously treated each cut, she heard Karen murmuring to Ruth. Not wanting to intrude, she dipped her head, focusing intently on the task at hand, yet she could still hear every word, and it made her heart want to burst.

Karen was holding Ruth's good hand and lovingly rubbing her thumb back and forth across her knuckles.

"I'm sorry, my darling," she whispered, "I won't ever let anybody hurt you ever again. We're going to get you to the hospital and you're going to be fine. You're going to open those gorgeous eyes of yours and poke fun at me for being so worried about you, and then we can walk out of there together. You'll moan about what agony your heels are to walk in, and we'll both take our shoes off and stagger barefoot all the way down the West India Docks and along Commercial Road, and we'll both laugh until we cry. How does that sound?"

There was a second of quiet as Karen leant in to Ruth's ear.

"I love you,"

The familiar burning sensation in Patsy's eyes and throat forced her to take a deep breath, pushing back the tears that now threatened to spill over.

"Have you got anything flat and rigid that I could use as a splint for Ruth's wrist?" Patsy asked, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to prevent her from choking up.

Karen looked up, brow furrowed in thought.

"I've got a comb, I think that's about it,"

Taking the comb from Karen, Patsy tested it, holding it at either end and pressing the centre with her thumbs. It was relatively sturdy, and she gave a nod of satisfaction.

"I just need something to fasten it to her wrist now,"

It was at this point that Delia returned, face rosy from the exertion of running to the telephone and back.

"Here," she said, untying the silk scarf from around her neck and passing it to Patsy, "That should do the trick,"

With skilful hands, Patsy lifted Ruth's wrist, which was now the colour of storm clouds due to the bruising, and placed the comb on the underside of her forearm, with the end of it just reaching into her palm. Delia held Ruth's arm steady whilst Patsy quickly wrapped the scarf around it, tying it off securely at the end. Smiling proudly at her handiwork, she placed Ruth's hand into her lap and sat back against the adjacent wall.

"What did the hospital say, Deels?"

"There's an ambulance on the way. They were confident that they could get here quickly,"

Delia sat down on the floor beside Patsy. Even in the dank smelling alley, she could still make out the wonderfully fragrant scent of Patsy's perfume, and for a second she forgot about the awful circumstances which had brought her to where she was now.

"What will we tell the doctor?"

Karen's timid question brought Delia plummeting back to reality.

"You do not have to tell them a thing," Patsy said firmly, "All you need to say is that a man shoved her in street and that she fell. You needn't tell them who or where or why,"

As the words left her lips, Ruth gave an unexpected moan and her head dropped down onto her chest. Clear fluid dripped from her nose onto her dress, leaving dark spots on the material. In the same minute, the loud noise of an engine indicated that the ambulance had arrived. Two men carrying a stretcher between them bounded into the alley, conferring briefly with Patsy and Delia, before lifting Ruth up and taking her into the ambulance.

"She's been in and out of consciousness, and there has been frequent vomiting and what appears to be cerebrospinal fluid leaking from her nose. I've put her wrist into a temporary splint, but I think it may be fractured, possibly even broken," Patsy quickly reeled off the information.

"Thank you for staying with her, this girl may owe you both a great deal," the paramedic replied soberly.

Karen was ushered into the back of the ambulance, but Patsy stopped her just as she was climbing in.

"If you need anything at all, Delia and I both live at Nonnatus House, so you know where to find us. I know that you and the hospital will give Ruth the best care possible. Just… look after yourself," Patsy's voice broke as she ran out of anything else to say.

Giving her hand a quick squeeze, Patsy moved backwards, allowing for the door to be shut and for the vehicle to drive away. It stormed out of the street, leaving a bleak emptiness in its wake. Quite abruptly, the street grew darker, and Patsy looked up to realise that the clouds, which had been clearing earlier, were now regathering, blocking out the stars which, only a few minutes ago, had been piercing through the blackness.


	3. Chapter 3

Neither Delia nor Patsy spoke a word. Neither knew of anything that they could possibly say that would provide even the remotest glimpse of comfort to either of them. Their night out had been so carefree, and this brutal act of violence was a harsh reminder that, for them, their happiness was still precariously hanging in the balance. Their future was uncertain.

A sharp crash of thunder brought sound screaming back to the desolate street, and icy rain began to lash against the pavement. Even with the drastic weather change, the two women made no effort to move or find shelter. Their hair was plastered to their faces, and their waterlogged dresses clung to their legs. Eventually, it was Delia who turned to look at the other nurse.

"C'mon, Pats," Delia shouted, trying to be heard over the torrents of water, "We need to go home,"

Patsy did not move. She stood stock still, staring blankly at the place where the ambulance had just disappeared from, as if she could not quite comprehend that it had really gone.

"Patsy!" Delia reached out and touched her arm, and she started in surprise at the contact.

"We need to get home," Delia said again, "Back to Nonnatus. They'll probably be really worried about us and we're going to get drenched out here and…"

"How can we go back?"

Patsy turned her head, and Delia saw that the shine in her eye that she knew and loved was gone.

"We have to go back, Pats, you know we do,"

"No, you don't understand, Delia. Watching Karen back there, hunched over Ruth, making her promises and knowing that every word of love and devotion was falling on deaf ears… that was what it was like with you. I'll never forget looking at you and knowing that you didn't know me. _I can't lose you again_ ,"

Delia pulled Patsy into her, wrapping her arms as tightly around her as she could.

"I'm not going anywhere unless it's with you," she said, pressing her lips to Patsy's wet cheek, "Please, just come back to Nonnatus with me now. We're both going to catch our death of cold,"

Slowly, Patsy allowed herself to be led away. Delia gingerly picked her way along the cobblestones and gave Patsy her arm for support. It took them a while, the rain making it increasingly hard to navigate the maze of streets back to Nonnatus, but they managed it in the end.

All of Delia's energy was needed to lift her arm and ring the doorbell. She could hear the sound of footsteps marching towards the door and identified the person as Trixie from the stride pattern on the floor.

The boisterous blonde flung the door open.

"Yes, hello, who's… Good heavens! Delia! Patsy! You're soaked through!"

Delia could only nod weakly as she stepped over the threshold. Patsy followed her in and allowed Trixie to guide her to the stairs so that she could sit down. She felt physically and emotionally drained.

"Oh my goodness!" Sister Julienne exclaimed as she rushed in, "What on earth happened?"

Delia looked to Patsy, meeting her gaze and seeing the pain that she herself felt mirrored in her beloved's eyes. She took a deep breath before giving a brief summary of the events of the night. Even as she spoke, she realised that she could not find any words to explain the significance of what had just happened to the people around her. Only Patsy could understand.

She finished the story, trying to speak only in plain facts to avoid having to remind herself of the real tragedy that had just unfolded. Her whole body ached and, despite their kindness and good intentions, she wished that everybody else would leave her be. As a nurse, she had seen others suffer serious misfortune, but never before had it been so agonisingly familiar, or so frightening, for that matter.

Trixie had a hand over her mouth, eyes widened and fearful.

"You poor things! What a horrendous evening!"

Sister Julienne edged forward and placed a warm hand on Delia's cheek, lifting her head to look at her clearly. Her trained nurse's eye could see past Delia's fatigue to witness the sheer anguish within.

"Go upstairs, Nurse Busby. I'll call the London and ask them to find cover for you shift tomorrow," she said kindly, "Nurse Mount, the same goes for you. You both need rest,"

Patsy looked as if she was about to protest, but Trixie gave her shoulder a small squeeze.

"Go, Patsy," she urged gently, "We've got everything covered here,"

Delia could feel eyes on her back as she climbed the stairs with Patsy. The steps creaked below her with their well-known sound and her shoes left fleeting indentations on the carpet. When she turned the corner and was out of sight, she felt relieved at being out of scrutiny.

"Do you want to sit in my room for a bit?" Patsy mumbled, her fingers playing nervously with her dress.

Delia shook her head, "Trixie will be up in a bit and… I just want to sleep, Pats. I'm sorry, I…"

Patsy cut her off with a small hand movement.

"I understand," she said, with a brave attempt at a smile.

The scratching sensation of guilt grew as Delia watched Patsy traipse down the corridor alone. The redhead paused as she reached her door, looking back at where Delia was stood. Her face was impassive, and Delia could not read the expression. This was clinical Patsy; the inscrutable façade that she presented to everybody else. It had always been a source of great pride for Delia that Patsy had opened up to her, and allowed her to see the person who was behind the mask. She knew that this was Patsy's way of coping with stress, but the feeling of being shut out made Delia's eyes sting and her vision blur. Angrily wiping her face with the back of her hand, she went inside, closing the door firmly behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Firstly, I would very much like to thank everybody who has stayed with this story so far. This is the first fanfiction that I have written and it has been really wonderful to receive such positive feedback. I absolutely intend to keep writing, and hope to publish other works shortly.**

The soft whirring of the bike chain and the steady rhythm of pedalling worked to ease Patsy's stress, and, for the first time in the past two days, she felt able to relax. Her grasp on the handlebars loosened slightly as she freewheeled along the edge of the docks. It had a been an enchantingly beautiful day, and now, at dusk, the wispy clouds that were scattered across the horizon were tinged a delicate pink by the setting sun.

Taking her right foot off the pedal, Patsy eased on the brakes and came to a halt on the pavement. This was too breath-taking a spectacle to disregard, and so she allowed herself a minute leant against the railings, watching the Thames turn a stunning amber in the evening light. Ships were silhouetted against the vibrant backdrop, and Patsy wished that she could somehow capture the scene in all its glory before it faded away.

She wished that Delia was there to see it too.

The knot in her stomach twisted and tightened as she thought of her. In the past couple of days, since the incident with Karen and Ruth, they had barely spoken. The silences had been unbearable. It was as if Ruth's injury had shattered any illusions that she and Delia had had of safety or stability, and dredged up all of the old anxieties and worries that had plagued the early days of their relationship.

Poor, darling Delia.

Dragging her stare away from the horizon, she mounted her bicycle and pushed down hard on the pedals, feeling the wheels respond beneath her. With a new energy, she swerved her way through dock workers and up into the terraced streets. A few neighbours called out exuberantly to her as she ducked beneath washing lines and manoeuvred a group of children playing cricket with distressed, old bat and a small crate acting as the stumps.

With a final turn, she made her way up through the tunnel, and parked her bike alongside the others in the shed beside Nonnatus House. The building itself was looking particularly charming, drenched in the glow of the sunset. Patsy unfastened the straps on the back of her bike to lift out her medical bag. As usual, it was much lighter than it had been that morning, and she carried it easily up to the door to let herself in.

Sister Mary Cynthia was emptying the autoclave as Patsy placed her bag down on the bench.

"Once this is empty, it's all yours, Patsy," she told her cheerfully.

"Thank you, Sister,"

There was then a period of quiet before Patsy, who had been deliberating on how to raise the issue on her mind, finally spoke.

"You haven't seen Delia about, have you, Sister?"

She tried to force a casual tone into her voice, but as the words left her mouth she became aware that she sounded strained. Sister Mary Cynthia studied her for a split second, her lips pressed tightly together. What was it that Patsy could see etched in her expression? Pity? Sadness?

"The last time I saw her, she was in the chapel,"

The last item was lifted from the autoclave and Patsy reached to begin loading her own utensils, before Sister Mary Cynthia put her hand out to stop her.

"Let me fill the autoclave. Go and see Delia. I think that she needs you,"

"You're quite sure?"

Sister Mary Cynthia nodded, understanding radiating from her smile.

Patsy stumbled over her words with gratefulness and half ran from the room to the chapel. When she reached the doorway, she peered inside, searching for Delia.

She was not hard to see. Still in her uniform, she was sat with her head bowed respectfully on the front pew. Her hair was tied up in its usual fashion, and Patsy could see the smooth skin of her neck and the elegant line of her jaw from the way her head was angled.

A wave of trepidation washed through her as she began to walk down the aisle towards her. She trod lightly on the stone floor; Delia looked so blissfully serene that she did not want to disturb her, but eventually she could stay silent no longer.

"Delia,"

Her voice barely sounded like her own. The emotions of the last few days swiftly released themselves and she began to struggle to even stay standing. Blood pounded in her ears and her heart was thumping so forcefully inside her chest that she was certain that it could be heard. The vision of Delia, who was now stood in front of the alter, swam as new, hot tears spilled across her cheeks.

 _And then she was there._

Delia's arms wrapped around Patsy, holding her closely, whispering words of consolation, her tone so reassuring and supportive. Her warm hand rubbed slow circles on her back, easing the jumpy heaves that racked Patsy's body. Her warmth and presence surrounded Patsy, and she clung desperately to her.

"Shh," she murmured, "It's okay, Pats,"

Reaching into her dress pocket, Delia produced a handkerchief, which she used to dab Patsy's eyes dry.

"There,"

The light seeping through the stained-glass window gleamed on Delia's dark hair.

"I'm sorry… I tried to… but I didn't know… I want you to… I'm sorry,"

Delia shook her head, and led Patsy to sit down on the pew in the first row. Patsy's knees almost buckled, and she felt a huge sense of relief at being sat down.

"Patsy," Delia began, "You don't have to apologise because there's nothing to be sorry for. What happened to me… it's all in the past now. I will never leave you ever again because I love you. I love you more than I knew it was even possible to love anybody. You complete me, and there is not any obstacle that I would not overcome to be with you,"

Their fingers intertwined as Delia kept speaking.

"I know that living with secrets is frightening, but we're making it work, and we will continue to do so until a day comes when we won't have to be afraid anymore,"

Delia's face was so earnest and prepossessing that Patsy was mesmerised.

"I love you, Delia,"

Taking Patsy's hand, Delia opened up her palm and placed a chaste kiss there before folding her fingers back down. Her skin tingled where Delia's lips had been, and Patsy squeezed her own hand tightly shut, as if she really could keep Delia's kiss enclosed there for eternity.

"Come on. Supper's bound to be ready any minute and we wouldn't want to be late for that,"

"Wouldn't we?" Patsy asked, playfully pulling Delia back to her as she made to stand.

"Nurse Mount! We are in the House of God!" Delia said, feigning outrage, "That behaviour is hardly appropriate!"

"I think it's perfectly appropriate," Patsy winked, leaning in to kiss the lip that Delia was biting to try and keep a straight face.

"Patsy, as lovely as your lipstick is, I really don't want to wear it in to dinner, if that's alright with you," Delia smirked, pushing her away, although secretly delighted at seeing the mischievous side of Patsy return.

"Spoilsport," Patsy pouted, but she allowed Delia to stand.

Their fingertips brushed past one another in a deliberate, lingering sign of affection as Delia left the chapel and, shaking her head to bring herself back to earth, Patsy followed after.


End file.
